Olive goes to Rays in 29th round

LOWELL -- UMass Lowell junior first baseman/outfielder Russ Olive, who is from Chelmsford, was selected in the Major League Baseball Draft on Wednesday.

Olive was taken in the 29th round (870th overall) by the Tampa Bay Rays. The 6-foot-3, 205-pounder turned 22 last Sunday.

He burst onto the radar of Major League scouts this spring when he put up monster offensive numbers for the 25-29 River Hawks. Olive batted .359 with 13 home runs (second in America East) and 37 RBI. He also posted an on-base percentage of .460 and an America East-best slugging percentage of .641.

Olive was a Merrimack Valley Conference All-Star as a junior at Chelmsford High School. After that school year, he transferred to Cushing Academy.

Noah Zavolas

Central Catholic star lefty pitcher Steven Hajjar, of North Andover, was selected by the Milwaukee Brewers in the 21st round (635th overall). The 6-foot-4, 205 pounder is also committed to play at Michigan.

Hajjar was recently named the Massachusetts Gatorade Baseball Player of the Year.

Acton native and Harvard University junior right-handed pitcher Noah Zavolas was the highest-drafted local product, as he was selected in the 18th round (538th overall) by the Seattle Mariners.

The former Acton-Boxboro Regional High ace went 6-1 in 11 starts this season for Harvard with a 2.96 ERA and 77 strikeouts in 70 innings.

Dan Metzdorf, a Burlington native and Boston College sophomore left-handed pitcher, was taken by the New York Yankees in the 38th round (1,147th overall).

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The 5-foot-10, 166-pounder went 1-8 with a 5.74 ERA, but did strike out 61 in 69 innings of work this season.

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